TEUFELSKUNST Occult Art Blog
TEUFELSKUNST
Occult Art Blog

Blessed Winter Solstice 2017!

Mullein, Winter Solstice Edition ’17, 3 available

Wishing to all my customers and followers a blessed Winter Solstice and Yule time! The Teufelskunst shop is taking a break from tonight until the 2nd of January. This means, the shop stays online and you can still place orders, but order processing and shipping will be limited. Expect news and updates after the Christmas holidays. Thank you all for the immense support! 🕯🌟☄

The mullein artwork on the photo can be purchased here: https://teufelskunst.com/product/mullein-winter-solstice-17/

December 21, 2017

Posted In: Pflanzenkunst, Art, Feast Days

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Winter 2017

The snow came and went just about the same time as last year. Today has had more snow. Before I post about the new things I’ve been creating for you, I will share here some impressions from my way to work etc.

And how it looked in town…

Things in the works:

+ A new batch of Adramelech incense is completed and can be ordered now! Two blog posts about the different ingredients contained in this blend to follow… + Incense for Thagirion has been added to the store… + Crafted new wooden seed boxes, but yet have to fill them… + Still working on the dark wintry “Isa” incense… More updates to follow soon. +

January 15, 2017

Posted In: News & Site Updates

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Winter Walk: Sacred Thorn Grove, January's Mysteries and the Bloody Tears of the Cherry Tree Sisters

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Steady-paced I walk up the hill. The air is pleasantly cold. It clears the mind and disperses my headache. I am not freezing. The road I’m walking up is called Am Kirschberg, literally meaning “by the cherry mountain”. The field to the left is covered with a thin layer of snow. The dark frozen soil is sticking out of the white. Ploughing traces create zen like,  eye-dazzling patterns. At the end of the long stretched field the view is clearing up towards town. Over the horizon line a narrow golden band illuminates the sky. Above me are grey clouds. I am planning on a short walk, but my legs carry me in a different direction…

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Atop a stone wall by the castle, I find the wormwood has not entirely fallen victim to the frost. Next to fading foliage, fresh silvery green leaves are sprouting forth. I gather a few of them, enough for a small winter herb bundle to hang up at home. When dried, it will empower necromantic incense blends. Looking across the river valley, remnants of snow are showing between leafless trees and dark rocks. The sky is an eyeful and I would enjoy the silence, if it wasn’t for cars flashing past on a mint-green autobahn bridge.

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The Thorn Grove in Winter

The way down is frozen over and I hold onto the rusty handrail in order to not slip and fall. People coming my way do not greet me and I do not greet them either. Halfway down the hill, I arrive at the thorn grove. The path up there leads through leafless hawthorn trees growing in all directions. A jay sitting in the branches looks at me but does not fly off. Cautiously I venture on. The ground is muddy and slippery. Most of the snow at this side of the hill has melted. By the rocks I find another wormwood plant and spot a bird’s nest near where the jay had been. I am looking around, breathing the fresh winter air, trying to focus my myopic eyes on the distance. I think of none. It is a good place for the soul.

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Above, the hawthorn thicket is overgrown by raspberry and wild rose. To the right there are young blackthorn shrubs. Their thorns are long and sharp. The young twigs are flexible and make the best thorn-crowns. Further uphill, there is another areal of high-grown hawthorn trees, partly covered in ivy. It’s bordering at a property and the allotment gardens are close. One is likely to meet passersby here. But a magician knows to use the gaps and at night the place is dead silent. Today, however, I am only a passerby myself.

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A Thin White Veil upon the Field

I’m on my way home, stopping now and then, intrigued by the formations of clouds and the golden light of the sun further afar. A skein of geese is on its way southwards. Passing by wild cherry trees lining the field, I search their stems for resin and at last find a group of three tall and slender trees, the base dripping with soft, blood-red gum. I memorize the spot and proceed, faster now. I have to watch my steps. The trail is akin to an ice rink.

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At the birch tree, I stop once more. From here the field looks softer…

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The birch is a pioneer, a tree of new beginnings and the first to come back after complete devastation. The birch profits from death and desolation, but it also paves the way for others to follow and thrive. Beith is for birch, the tree of January, the door opener.

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Remnants of snow on the barren field, remind of the birch’s torn bark. It starts raining and continues to do so. The next day the snow will be gone.

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The Blood-Red Resin Tears of the Cherry Tree Sisters

Returning to the cherry trees, the resin is moist from the rain water and easy to scrap off. I collect a jar full, which I later place on the heat. The resin dries and hardens quickly. In its soft state it is sticky and a yellow golden color. It smells remotely of ripe cherries and of caramel, when burnt. In German it is also known as Katzengold, literally “cat’s gold”, and used for sweetening cough tea. In my worship, I employ the dark red resin tears for Naamah and other female entities. In their harvest, take care to not take everything and leave some behind for the spirits, along with offerings for the guardians of the trees. Physical gifts are symbolical and in order, but they count none without respect and patience. The latter are the true sacrifice. The trees will remember your signature and recognize you next time you approach them.

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I am thankful. The thought had crossed my mind to scar the trees in order to gather their resin. But I have not done so. Therefor I am blessed.

Concerning the Wood Wide Webhttp://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden-internet

January 14, 2016

Posted In: Ritual

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Winter in the Garden

The garden beginning of last week and one day later: winter has finally arrived and the plants can now rest underneath a protecting blanket of snow. The long autumn had a positive aspect though: winterafter a rainy summer and cool autumn I could still bed out young plants that had caught up slowly together with some late acquisitions. This concerned herbs such as Aconite, Belladonna, Henbane and Poison Hemlock as well as Lovage, Hyssop and Wormwood. In the background are planted plain white and purple spotted Foxgloves, which had been sown last year. These are now asleep underneath the white shroud that Hulda has laid upon the earth, awaiting resurrection in spring. Mandrakes kept in pots have been moved inside to the basement, together with a few daturas, angel’s trumpets and other plants that don’t withstand freezing.

Likewise Teufelskunst seems to have gone dormant. However those watching this space  may have noticed silent changes, corrections and additions that have been and continue being done pertaining to the site’s structure as well as content, with new and corrected info texts being uploaded to the Garden library as well as new items being added to our Herbal Supply – for example resins and powders in labeled glass bottles. I am constantly working on expanding and increasing the quality of the service, inspired and spured by recent customer requests as well as interaction with other experienced herb and seed dealers.

A few things on my list to look into in 2014 are for example new Aconite species, namely the beautiful Climbing Monkshood (Aconitum hemsleyanum) with dark claret flowers and the Yellow Monkshood or Healing Wolfsbane (Aconitum anthora). Further I was able to track down rare seeds of the allegedly most poisonous Monkshood, the Indian Aconite or Bish (Aconitum ferox), which I hope to be able to grow from seed this year. Besides this I seek to expand my knowledge about different Datura species, adding the Long Spined or Fierce Thorn-Apple (Datura ferox) to the garden. What else? I did not have any success yet at growing Henbane Bell (Scopolia carniolica) from seed, so I will give it another try with new seeds from a different source. Finally I have also been offered rare seeds of the Indian Belladonna (Atropa acuminata). For those interested I will post about my sowing and growing progress here.

Of course there are also orders to take care of and it is a pleasure and rewarding to receive this type of positive feedback and see the group of new and returning customers grow. Being an artist/hand-crafting things on the one hand and being a seller/taking care of business on the other is certainly not always an easy combination, especially when inspiration kicks in. Occvlta SinistraHaving to hold it back in favor of handling and shipping orders (duty) however does also insure that I am not chasing after any quick idea and forces me to be selective of what I actually manifest. In this regard I am also extremely excited about and thankful for the collaborations that arose last year, first of all with Occvlta, who have already begun creating a new collection of unique Reliquary Pendants with Teufelskunst herbs. (Seeing the new pendants yesterday was a real treat!) Click on the picture to the left to learn more.

Besides this yet another jewellery collaboration is coming to frution with a metal worker from Finland, currently casting the first batch of metal pendants with our Sigilum Major – or Greater Sowing Seal, which is simultaneously also the seal of a certain herb. (If you are familiar with our plant inspired sigilla magicae you may recognize it.) For those interested in the process comes here a photo of the casting procedure… and here are now the final prototypes: Teufelskunst-pendants-2014+

As you can see there is also another pendant being done. More about this, photos and details concerning prizing to be announced soon. Pre-orders are already accepted at [email protected]

What more? The past weeks were also filled with new experiences and inspiration transmitted by nature’s silent witnesses, the trees and vine (see documentation). From harvesting Poison Ivy and Mistletoe to communicating with Birch, Alder and other giants, which lastly ought to lead to new creations – amongst others in the form of new altar discs. This year starts with birch and black alder, of which I have a few raw wood slices to work with and that shall result in ten new pentacles to be offered here soon. For reference, these have been inspired by a recent customer request and they are different in that they are pyrographed into raw untreated wood that still has tree bark on. Details and pictures to follow. Besides this I am also working on new regular pentacles.

Lastly I have been approached for different commissions, such as tattoo designs and illustrations. I have also been contemplating the direction into which Teufelskunst is going and aim altogether for a stronger combination of supply, collaborative efforts and original art. Whatever news this year will have – you will read about them first here.

So long, thank you so much for your love, support and patience.

Yours X.A.

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Blessed New Year

January 28, 2014

Posted In: Garden, News & Site Updates

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